A rural bike ride

There I was. All ready to go on a longish ebike ride. Perfect weather. Enough water and food for one day in my big bike bag. Plus two cameras. Jumped on the bike, rolled down the hill, only to realize that there was a big issue with the chain. And as I wasn't in bike repair mode, I switched bikes. Had to leave a few things at home, but five minutes later I was out on the road on my Kona bike. Instead of Norra Djurgården I opted for a rural ride around Haninge and here are five snaps from that ride. Top photo shows Husby. The horses can be seen in a pasture at the Medieval church in Österhaninge. The canola field is closer to home at Nedersta. And the last two photos show summer scenes from Alby.

Just in time

The moose hunting season gets under way here today. So I was safe on the day earlier in the week when I took these Autumn photos at Husby, Ormsta, Fors, Berga, Stav and Nedersta. From today, it is not safe to just wander around on the forests as I often do. Oh and if you look closely, you can see a hunting blind in the top photo.

Husby

One of about 70 Husby farms in Sweden. Back in the day, they were all owned by the king. This one an be found in Österhaninge.

Autumn Golf

I'm no golfer but that has to be one of the shorter tee shots I have ever seen. As seen at the Fors golf course in Västerhaninge earlier in the week. I had been out shooting Autumn photos when I got a flat tire, despite my new kevlar tires, so while I was waiting for my ride home I snapped away at the course. Second photo is from the golf course at Husby. That tee shot looked much better.

Autumn at Husby

Husby is one of those places that I often return to with the camera. Today it is a horse farm in a rural setting near the golf course in Österhaninge. It has an interesting history. Back in the good old days, (Centuries ago), any farm named Husby was the place where local farmers had to go and pay their taxes.

Large Square Bale Wrapper

Baling hay at Husby on a warm Summer day in early July.

Husby in Winter

Husby is one of those places that I often return to with the camera. Today it is a horse farm in a rural setting near the golf course in Österhaninge. It has an interesting history. Back in the good old days (Centuries ago), any farm named Husby was a place where local farmers had to go and pay their taxes. To see a very different Summer view of Husby try the Time Machine.

Summer Colors

This is how Husby in Österhaninge looks at the moment. Husby dates back two thousand years. There is a grave site from that period here. The farm got it's name 1500 years ago. There was many Husby farms in Sweden back then, as it was a place where farmers paid their taxes to the king. To see both a Winter and Autumn view of Husby check out this post from a couple of years ago.

Spring Vs. Summer

Time for another Different Seasons diptych. This is Husby in Österhaninge. The two photos showing Spring and Summer are from April this year and July 2009. You can see two more photos from that summer day in a post that I called Hay Harvesting. And if you want some facts about Husby and also see a winter version of the horse farm have a look at this post from November last year.

Autumn Vs. Winter

This is Husby in Österhaninge. I shot the autumn photo a few days ago when I was out on a bike ride. The winter version is from a few winters ago. Husby dates back two thousand years. There is a grave site from that period here. The farm got it's name 1500 years ago. There was many Husby farms in Sweden back then as it was a place where farmers paid their taxes to the king. Since that time the farm has had many different owners. I have a post with some nice photos of the current owners, where they are out harvesting hay and you can see and read about that here.

Hay Harvesting

It's that time of the year again. Hay Harvesting. All around Haninge the farmers have been busy with the harvest. I have seen it in large scale near the Häringe castle, where they use many big machines from the Fituna Farm, and small scale like this at Husby in Österhaninge, where there is a small stable just up the hill where the hay from this field will end up as food for the horses. Nice to see the young and old working together here. Shot this last week on one of those very warm days. I believe that the people here are members of Helena Persson's family. Helena is one of Sweden's best English Riders.

An exiting day in Österhaninge

Husby is an old farm in Österhaninge. Back in the good old days this was the place where the local farmers paid their taxes to the king. They would arrive on their wagons that were filled with their produce. This is the old watermill that was also used as a sawmill, and later it also got a turbine which generated the electricity to the farm. Today there is a golf course here. And believe it or not, to get to the tenth hole you have to walk through the old mill! I spent some time here on Thursday with a flickr friend and photographer, Jim, who you can see here on the steep stairs, zooming in on a detail from the old mill.



We started by having coffee at the golf club, and that turned out to bee a big mistake, as it was very warm, and I was beginning to feel the heat. Luckily it was a bit cooler down by the stream. This is the view from inside the mill. What you see here is the Husby stream and a salmon staircase, also known as a fish ladder.



What you don't see here is what happened one hour after the visit to the mill. By then the temperature was around 30C and I was really feeling the heat as we were walking through an ancient grave field where you will also find Haninge's biggest ant hill in an old barn! Anyway, I was very dizzy and needed more water and as we made our way back to our bikes, we were chased by a bunch of angry horses through a horse pasture! Hard to believe, but that is what happened. I ran as fast as I could, while Jim hid behind a tree. Back at the stable, we told a bunch of girls what had happened as I drank around three litres of water in under five minutes. They probably got a big laugh out of that. Luckily for me it started to rain, and as I had a ten km bike ride home that rain probably saved me as my temperature slowly turned back to normal in the rain.

Golfers and a horse

This is Husby in Österhaninge. A golf course (par 70) and a horse pasture. I wonder how many golf balls that these horses eat? Across the road from here you will find the golden rape field I have blogged about before. And the 800 year old church with the leaning tower. And The Art Promenade. And The new building site The Fields of Ribby. All places that I photograph regularly on my trips around Haninge.

Old Farm at Husby

This is rural Österhaninge. The vikings lived here. Husby, Hesslingby and Kalvsvik are the names of the old farms around here. There are lots of ancient remains in this area. 4000 years ago this was the coastline and hunters lived here. And here is the same place from a visit last winter.